My daughter said I've come a long way since I started working at the dairy. She said, "It used to be that when you got home from work you would flop down on your bed and lay like this. (She is lying flat on her back on my bed under the covers.) And you would stay there most of the rest of the day. And all you could say was low moaning." Its true. I HAD to nap every day after work, in those first weeks. And I was only working 3 days a week. Now I'm working 5 days a week and I don't have to nap anymore. Its true that I can hardly string 4 words together coherently. But I'm definitely getting stronger. It kind of freaks me out to realize how weak and out of shape I was. And I'm still weak and out of shape.

I'm deeply gratified and happy with my farming job. I'm becoming intimate with the ways of a pitch fork. I spend a fair amount of time every day pitching hay. And rolling out hay. And pushing up hay. I get to rope and lead calves. I'm developing a sixth sense about how cows think and move. I am constantly learning and making mistakes and being corrected. Very slowly now, the cows are becoming recognizable individuals to me. I have a favorite. Her name is Applebee.

My boss is followed around the farm by a geriatric white Basset Hound named Sally. There is a barn cat who wandered up to the farm and decided to stay about 6 months ago. Barncat visits with me in the dairy while I'm setting up, before I bring the cows down in the morning. Today, surely because of the extreme cold, she even made rounds while we milked. I've developed a bizarre (silly) paranoia about encountering a bear in the dark by myself at the farm probably because my shift is so early and I'm often the only one there. Barncat helps me be brave. My boss (who is allergic to cats) put a bed out for her last night---even though technically no cat lives there. There is a bag of food for her, as well. Funny, I've never met a PETA person who actually knows much about the life of animals.

If I had decided to study so I could find a job working in a dairy, smart people might have warned me off the idea, saying its a dying profession, jobs are few, the work is too difficult, etc. Which goes to show, if you want something, really really want it, go for it hard. If you try hard, if you are diligent, if you make yourself good at what you do, you can do almost anything in the world. If I can do this, anyone can do almost anything. Dream big, kids. And try hard. And read all the professional literature. Most people won't make such an effort. And, as Aunt Katherine used to say, "be sweet."